The Brewery
Shades, which stands on a corner site at the point where the town's ancient
High Street meets the commercial developments of the postwar New Town, has been
altered and extended several times; but at its centre is a 15th-century
timber-framed open hall-house of a type common in the Crawley area in the
Middle Ages. Few now survive, and the Brewery Shades has been protected as a
Grade II listed building. The Shades (perhaps its original name), was built in
the 15th century. Estimates of the date range from "1450 or a little
earlier" [7] to c. 1500.
In the 17th
century another storey was added internally and the façade was given two gable
ends. Further changes were made over the next two centuries, such that the
external appearance of the building was completely changed. The ground floor
was affected most by the alterations.
Although the
medieval origins are now obscured behind a modern façade, substantial parts of
the timber-framed original open hall-house layout remain inside. The oldest
part of the building is the north–south range, parallel to the High Street.
This has a gigantic tie-beam holding up a king post ceiling. The king post's
structure includes purlins, chamfers and decorative mouldings. This façade has
three modern gable ends and a tiled upper storey. Around the corner, facing The
Broadwalk, there is a twin-gabled modern façade, again with a tile-hung first
floor and a stucco-faced ground floor. This part is a modern extension. At the
northern end, there is another original wing running west to east: it has
substantial timberwork with chamfering, visible from one of the bars.
Reputed
hauntings are a common feature of Sussex inns, and a wide variety of alleged
paranormal activities at the Brewery Shades have been documented: a woman and
child (a boy) associated in particular with one room in which a bed was once
found alight for no reason; a doorbell ringing by itself during the night; and
a man haunting the ladies' toilet. Historically, the word "shade"
meant "ghost"—a possible explanation for the inn's name.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
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